A couple of thoughts.

To the best of my knowledge acceptance of a donation does not require Board approval.

As indicated in its name BoardSource is a resource of information. It would seem that having an additional resource for the Board would be something we should welcome, not something to be shunned. In any event individual acceptance of membership in BoardSource is voluntary.

Not all Board members may have had the opportunities as Director Tiemstra for advancedr legal education as to governance of non-profits.

I may have misread his email, butDirector Tiemstra appears to be concerned by a third party evaluation of the Board based upon self-selected participation by Board members. That is worth considering. Apparently participation in the survey is voluntary and limited to members. 

However, as an ARRL member, not as a Board member, I would wonder why the Board would be reluctant to receive comments from a third-party with experience with non-profit boards, based upon input from the members of the Board. Since, the Board will be free to accept or reject those comments there sems little harm in at least obtaining the perspective.

Of course, reasonable minds may differ, this just doesn’t seem to be a hot button issue.

73,
Jay, K0QB

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 4, 2019, at 11:44 AM, James Tiemstra <k6jat@comcast.net> wrote:

Howard,


I am troubled by your request. There are many sources of information concerning Board governance of non profit corporations. I have taken continuing legal education courses and reviewed written materials on the subject for my own edification, some were better than others. As expected, there also are differences of opinion among the experts, and different issues and concerns depending on the type and purpose of the entity of interest.


I have never heard of BoardSource, nor do I know of anything to recommend it, other than what I have read in your email which calls it "preeminent" without explanation or qualification. Also, I note that there is no description of what benefits the Board is expected to receive from this membership, other than the imposition of a survey on the Board members that promises to be "very enlightening."


Further, I don't recall the EC or Board approving acceptance of this membership. The failure to do so would seem to violate the resolution passed by the Board just this past January in Minute 39.


73,


Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT

Pacific Division Director

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On April 3, 2019 at 1:25 PM "Michel, Howard, WB2ITX (CEO)" <wb2itx@arrl.org> wrote:


Dear Officers, Directors and Vice Directors,

I am pleased to inform you that, because of a very generous gift from
Walton Stinson W0CP, ARRL now has a corporate membership in
BoardSource. BoardSource is recognized as the preeminent source of
information on nonprofit governance and leadership development. This is
their specialty, and I am very grateful to Walton for providing ARRL
with access to this resource.

You will all shortly be receiving an invitation from BoardSource to
activate your account. Please do not regard their email as spam. Once
you register, you will have access to their extensive resource library.

One of BoardSource's key resources is their Board Self-Assessment
Survey. BoardSource will set up a survey for us. This will take about
1-2 weeks. Once the survey is up and running, you will have 2-3 weeks
to complete it. BoardSource then needs another 1-2 weeks to analyze the
data and provide a report. I hope to have this report to present to
the Executive Committee on May 20. I believe that it will be very
enlightening.

73, Howard, WB2ITX

--
Howard E. Michel, WB2ITX
Chief Executive Officer
ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio®
225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA
Telephone: +1 860-594-0404
email: hmichel@arrl.org

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